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11/22/2004 Archived Entry: "Use a fast-forward button, go to jail?"

Use a fast-forward button, go to jail. No kidding: the U.S. Congress, pandering to the entertainment industry, just tried to make it illegal for you to skip over the advertising on your DVDs (or with your TiVo). The worst aspects of the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2004 seem to have been killed in the Senate this weekend, but did you even know that this was cooking?

It's annoying enough that our DVD player won't let us fast-forward or replay certain parts of certain DVDs. (This is a deal cooked up between the makers of DVD players and the makers of movies -- DVDs can include metadata to disable certain features.) Before long I may set up a Linux PC to play DVDs, because some DVD software for Linux can bypass these idiotic restrictions.

Also, I'm thinking about picking up a few spare VCRs. They're disappearing from shops, and they're about the only video recording technology you can buy that doesn't include Digital Rights Management. If you still believe that you have the right to record broadcast programs, and edit out commercials, you'd best buy technology that allows this while you still can.

brad